Tarot Spreads – xiane.dot.orghttps://www.xiane.org
...a small light in the darkness.Mon, 15 Jul 2019 21:09:54 +0000en-US
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1 18656615July Full Moon in Capricorn: Thunder Moonhttps://www.xiane.org/july-full-moon-in-capricorn-thunder-moon/
https://www.xiane.org/july-full-moon-in-capricorn-thunder-moon/#commentsMon, 15 Jul 2019 20:56:18 +0000https://www.xiane.org/?p=1983Greetings, my friends. I know, it’s been a minute since I updated. To be honest, it’s been really hard staying focused lately. A huge part of that is the political atmosphere and a crushing feeling of fear and despair over it that I’ve been expending large amounts of energy to hold at bay. That takes …

To be honest, it’s been really hard staying focused lately. A huge part of that is the political atmosphere and a crushing feeling of fear and despair over it that I’ve been expending large amounts of energy to hold at bay. That takes up a lot of my personal power and drive, I’m afraid.

All my creative energy has been directed to my Fiber Arts business and teaching; I’m finally feeling like I am both able to and need to look back here to work on some witchy protective and creative energy.

So in that spirit, I’ve drawn three cards while thinking about how I feel and what I should focus on during this full moon and beyond, and I am going to share that reading with you.

First, let’s talk about the moon energy happening right now. We’ve got a Full Moon in Capricorn at the moment, aka the Thunder Moon or Buck Moon. A Cappy moon is all about self-discipline, organizing and business, and cutting through the bullshit without much emotion – no nonsense, all the way.

For me, it’s an interesting juxtaposition, as I have my Sun sign in Capricorn and my Moon in it’s opposite, Cancer. Cancer moons are alllll about emotion, so it’s no surprise that I’m feeling pretty fraught and beat up right now! It’s all about the stuff I need to hear but probably don’t want to hear. This full moon says “too bad, deal with it.” So… I will. Fine.

Deck used: The Wild Unknown Tarot

My standard personal pull is a three card pull with a statement of feelings and intent before pulling cards. Today, I talked to the cards about how stressed I feel, and scared, and what I should focus on in order to keep on a positive path.

The deck I am working with is The Wild Unknown Tarot by Kim Krans. It is my go-to deck and always gives me the answers I really need. The stone I held while doing this reading is a large Labradorite.

My reading:

Ten of Cups: Harmony, kinship, joy; be what you want to see in the world. Your cups will fill with the energy you emit.Nine of Pentacles: Happy, Healthy Home, a plentiful nest; hard work and self control built this.Nine of Wands: Inner strength, stamina; judge carefully before you expend that energy – just because you can get there doesn’t mean that you should. Be wise in your strength. [work smarter not harder]

My interpretation: Really, you’re on the right path here. It’s hard right now, but as long as you keep working for justice and kindness, you’ll keep getting a positive return. Remember that even on the darkest days, you are strong and you have worked hard to build up a life that is good by your personal metric – you are paying your bills, you are living by your ethics, and you are slowly creating a business and community that reflects your ideals and standards. This is no small feat. Don’t undermine yourself by thinking there should be more, that the grass is greener elsewhere, or that you have to work harder because you aren’t achieving enough or the right things.

Maybe this is the message that you needed, as well?

Another gift to you for this full moon: a few tips to revel in the energy of July in the Northern Hemisphere.

Go outside. Find all the weedy flowers growing in a patch near you. Watch them carefully. Are bees visiting? Birds or butterflies? Observe their small rituals of gracing each flower. Take ten minutes to lose yourself in this moment, just some small creatures moving through their day peacefully.

Sit somewhere outside, in the shade. Close your eyes. Listen carefully: what do you hear? Are there birds singing? Cicadas buzzing? Leaves rustling? Breathe deep: what do you smell? Are flowers blooming? Is there a fountain or pool nearby with its distinctive scent? Is someone grilling? Feel the movement around you: is there a breeze that you can sense? Is your hair blowing about? Can you feel the heat of the day on your skin? Open your eyes. What is the first thing you see? What do you think of when you see it?

Take a moment of gratitude for everything that makes July bearable. Mine are: air conditioning, cool potable water, fans on the covered patio, ice cubes, fruit smoothies, a sudden blast from the garden hose, shade from trees and buildings, iced coffee, garden tomatoes.

Like what you’ve read here? Normally these offerings are for my Patreon supporters at the Practitioner level – if you’d like to read more posts like this and get other perks from me while supporting me in my work, please sign up for my Patreon!

]]>https://www.xiane.org/july-full-moon-in-capricorn-thunder-moon/feed/21983Ever Changing: The Maiden of Springhttps://www.xiane.org/ever-changing-the-maiden-of-spring/
https://www.xiane.org/ever-changing-the-maiden-of-spring/#respondThu, 21 Mar 2019 04:06:53 +0000https://www.xiane.org/?p=1943All seeds She deeply buries, She weaves the thread of seasons. Her secret, darkness carries, She loves beyond all reason. She changes everything She touches, and Everything She touches, changes. – Starhawk, Kore Chant, “The Spiral Dance” I am no longer a maiden. I know this. I moved into cronehood over the last couple of …

All seeds She deeply buries,
She weaves the thread of seasons.
Her secret, darkness carries,
She loves beyond all reason.
She changes everything She touches, and
Everything She touches, changes.

– Starhawk, Kore Chant, “The Spiral Dance”

I am no longer a maiden. I know this.

I moved into cronehood over the last couple of years. Yet the Maiden still lives in my heart, Persephone in her hidden realm ruling over all, holding Kore inside her own heart until the right time cycles and she rises forth in a wake of petals.

She who is Ever Changing, she whose name cannot be spoken, she who brings the buds and flowers but also holds the heart of the King of the Underworld: this Goddess speaks to me, in her journey to claim her own space, to own the darkness in the heart of such beauty.
Because of course, seeds germinate in the darkness.

To reclaim the Maiden who wants to be more than the sheltered daughter, to know the choices that allowed her the freedom to become a Queen, at least for half a year – this is a journey I am now called to explore.

My personal life shares many aspects with the story of Kore before she became Persephone. The parallels have become so striking and meaningful that I can feel the call to explore this in depth. I will be doing this exploration and sharing the results [and inviting those called to join me] on my Patreon. Please join me there as we move through the seasons via the path of She Who is Ever Changing.

A Tarot Pull for Spring

I used the Ostara Tarot deck for this reading. I am still breaking these cards in, as they have beautiful silvered edges that make them resistant to shuffling, so I took some time to really shuffle them and hold my intention for this reading in my mind.

This reading centers on four questions for this season:

First card: What should I nurture?
Second card: What should I weed out?
Third card: What’s lacking that I should plant?
Fourth card: What’s the seed that I secretly need?

Here’s my pull and my interpretations:

Card #1: 5 of Wands – This is a card about conflict, and in this case, I need to nurture my willingness to deal with said conflict. It’s easy to let things slide off my back or to push them down – especially things that might cause hurt to others if I speak up. But I know it’s well past time for me to address these conflicts head on, rather than letting them fester.

Card #2: Ace of Cups – I need my friends. I need to weed out that tendency to isolate myself, because it’s easy or because I get overwhelmed. I need my cup refilled, and I need to share what’s in my cup, too.

Card #3: The Moon – I need to plant more reliance on and trust in my subconscious. I feel confident in work like tarot reading, but there are a lot of things in my shadow self that I’ve ignored for far too long, and it make me weak.

Card #4: Death – Ironic that this came up as the seed I secretly need! Persephone speaks, and I am listening. As Death in this instance represents change to me, I recognize the truth in this card. What goes to ground will emerge new and transformed in the Spring.

As I begin this ultimately chthonic journey, I think this reading is a good platform for me to step from; I will want my friends around me as I unravel some of the uglier aspects of what dwells below in my psyche, and I most certainly will be dealing with conflict past and potentially present, if my words disturb some of the untruths that people from my past have wrapped themselves in. It’s a tricky business, going from Maiden to Underworld Goddess.

Did you try this reading? I would love to know more about how it spoke to you.

]]>https://www.xiane.org/ever-changing-the-maiden-of-spring/feed/01943December 2018 New Moon Readinghttps://www.xiane.org/december-2018-new-moon-reading/
https://www.xiane.org/december-2018-new-moon-reading/#respondSun, 09 Dec 2018 05:50:31 +0000https://www.xiane.org/?p=1921Welcome to the New Moon tarot reading for December 2018! I chose three cards to meditate on for this moon cycle, starting on December 7th with the Sagittarius New Moon. Normally this monthly reading is available for Patreon Practitioner level and higher, but this is my gift to you for the Yule season! If …

I chose three cards to meditate on for this moon cycle, starting on December 7th with the Sagittarius New Moon.

Normally this monthly reading is available for Patreon Practitioner level and higher, but this is my gift to you for the Yule season! If you find this reading helpful, I’d love to hear from you in the comments or via email – and if you’d like more guidance like this, as well as recipes for self-care, monthly rituals, my lists of recommended ritual items, and more, you can support me via Patreon and get all these things and more!

Tarot Cards: The Wild Unknown

First Card: Blessings

Four of Wands: This is the last month and moon of 2018. The sense of relief at completing this year and wrapping up the energy and challenges of 2018 is palpable. Celebrate your successes! Know that there is still so far to go in the Work, but you have achieved so much already, and you should be proud of what you have completed so far. Know that you are on the right path and you deserve to take the time to revel in this!

Second Card: Challenges

Son of Wands: While all of your successes have merit and should be properly lauded, don’t get a big head! Confidence is an essential component of being able to do your best, but don’t start believing your own hype to the point that you can’t see clearly. Make sure that when the going gets tough, you don’t just wander off. Challenges will make you stronger, so keep focused!

Third Card: Guidance

Father of Swords: Reinforcing the idea of keeping focused, the Father of Swords advises that you take the time to think things through before acting when you are tested, and do your best to reach conclusions without bias and with a balance of intellect and emotion.

Be clear on your morals and boundaries right now, especially before making any big decisions or changes. You might find it helpful to write out all pros and cons of a situation before acting on it, and doing all the necessary research beforehand as well.

In conclusion: This moon will be good to you, as long as you keep grounded and take your time when it comes to big decisions. Remember to honor your successes but don’t let them go to your head. And celebrate! We’re almost to the end of the year!

]]>https://www.xiane.org/december-2018-new-moon-reading/feed/01921Loving Yourself Through Deep Divinghttps://www.xiane.org/loving-yourself-through-deep-diving/
https://www.xiane.org/loving-yourself-through-deep-diving/#respondSun, 30 Sep 2018 20:13:27 +0000http://www.xiane.org/?p=1903These times are challenging ones, my friends. I know, aren’t they all? But we are alive here and now. And in this time and in this space, things are in conflict and turmoil. It is imperative that you practice strong self-care right now. If you are a survivor of previous abuse, current events can reopen …

I know, aren’t they all? But we are alive here and now. And in this time and in this space, things are in conflict and turmoil.

It is imperative that you practice strong self-care right now. If you are a survivor of previous abuse, current events can reopen old trauma and catch you unawares with how strong those aftereffects can be. If you are fighting for causes of justice, it is important to refill your own energy stores and heal the wounds you take on as you do your important work. If you are supporting those who are suffering emotionally or physically right now, you need to keep your strength up so that you can continue and not burn out.

Self care is a must. And you must take care of all aspects of yourself, including your own mental health, when you are carrying these sorts of burdens. You cannot heal the world when you are breaking apart, my friends.

Today I’m going to share how I heal myself by diving deep into myself. Right now, the abuse I have gone through in my life is feeling very raw and painful. To be strong and fierce I need to address all aspects of that pain and help it mend into something stronger. Here’s how I do that.

There are several aspects to address when it comes to healing deep trauma: social, physical, mental, spiritual. I like to address them in this order, like steps down into a cavern of stillness and well-being.

Social:

Turn off social media. Turn off the TV. Turn off your phone if you can. Give yourself at least a few hours of being unplugged if you can’t take the whole day. Tell your friends and family that you need alone time and if need be, leave the house and go somewhere like a park to get it. This is an absolute must – you have to take time with your thoughts in order to heal yourself.

Physical:

It’s important to center yourself in your body. A lot of trauma will live on in the body, causing terrible symptoms like anxiety, stress related illness, stiffness, disassociation, migraines, and more. As this is the only vessel we get to travel through this lifetime, it is so key to find ways to reconnect and reintegrate ourselves.

There are multiple ways to do this – I like yoga or working out at the gym as two of my go-to choices, because both center me in my body and help me feel strong and capable. Yoga is really great for giving me a peaceful calm, as well. Not everyone is comfortable with this sort of centering or capable of this outlet, so some other ways to recenter can include:

taking a long bath or shower

meditation, guided or not

tapping

dancing

singing [really!]

walking

If you have other suggestions, please comment on this post – I would love to hear how you recenter yourself into your body!

Mental:

This is where the rubber starts to meet the road, where the true deep diving begins. I primarily use two methods of deep diving, journaling and tarot. This can cross over pretty easily into the spiritual aspect of healing, too, so I’ll mention a few links that encompass both in this section.

Journaling has been my lifeline for keeping in touch with my inner self for almost my entire life. I have a library of previous journals which I often refer back to when I realize I’m repeating a behavior or stuck in a similar mental situation. I recently picked up the Bullet Journal tip of numbering pages and indexing as I go, which truly will help with future reference work.

If you’re not sure where to start with journaling for deep diving and healing, I recommend first starting a daily practice where you answer one prompt or question a day, just to get used to being personal on the page in this way. Here’s some links to pages with prompts, to get you started:

I also use my journal to track things like stress levels and physical reactions to them. It really helps to see patterns emerge so that I can address them as I spot them.

A lot of people use tarot for advice or guidance. You can also use it to cast spells and do mental health work.

I often draw a single card or a trio for insights into my mindset and how I can see the things I might be missing. It isn’t anything fancy, I just shuffle and try to keep my mind and body relaxed, while using deep breathing to connect with a sense of calm. I then pull one to three random cards from the stack and read them together. I write these readings down in my journal and take note of themes and reoccurring cards.

Single card draws are also really helpful for seeing what element I’m dwelling the most in on that day. Am I grounded? Emotional? Fierce? Creative? I can also ask what element I need to concentrate on invoking with the same sort of card pull.

Here are some links to recommended layouts for deep mental work with the tarot. Don’t go to these until you’re ready, okay? They are great practices but make sure you’ve made the mental space for them before you dive this deep.

Spiritual:

The tarot work above certainly falls into this category, but there are other spiritual works that I use to dive deep as well.

Create a cleansed space. Sit down with paper and whatever art tools you like, and draw your trauma, anger, pain. Don’t get fussy with it, let yourself unfocus and let it pour out. In fact, the uglier the better, because I recommend either drowning, burying, or burning the end result. This is a fantastic symbolic purge and can really leave you feeling lighter.

Make sure you are alone for this one: create a cleansed space. Ask your ancestors to witness you. Call out your abusers. Call out the ones in power who are holding you down. Call out the politicians who are striving to push us back into the stone age. Name names if you have them, and name them loudly. A typical call out from me:

“I CALL OUT > NAME < IN MY NAME AND THE NAME OF ALL WHO > NAME< HAS WRONGED. YOU HAVE NO POWER OVER ME. YOU HAVE NO POWER OVER US. YOU HAVE NO POWER. YOU ARE CAST OUT, YOU ARE CALLED OUT, YOU ARE SMALL AND UNIMPORTANT AND POWERLESS FROM THIS MOMENT.”

Feel free to improvise as you feel fit. Let the intensity build as you yell, building power until you end with “AND SO IT IS, BY MY POWER AND NAME.”

One of the most powerful things I’ve done, which was not taken lightly, was to use the concept of the traditional uncrossing or unhexing spell and apply it to my abuse. I used a black and a white candle, black thread, salt, garlic powder, and a basic anointing oil for this. You dress the black candle as your trauma/abuse, roll it in garlic, and tie it up with the black thread while commanding it to be bound and powerless. The white candle is dressed and blessed in your name, and set to the right of your black candle then circled with the salt. I like smaller candles for this, though some folks prefer a seven day approach. I also use a foil covered altar area for safety, and because once I am finished, I take the remains and scrape them off then bury them.

I recommend immediately re-cleansing your space and self after performing any of these actions. You will feel lighter, free and unfettered.

Did you use any of these suggestions? Have more to add? Please comment with them!

]]>https://www.xiane.org/loving-yourself-through-deep-diving/feed/01903Spring? Equinoxhttps://www.xiane.org/spring-equinox/
https://www.xiane.org/spring-equinox/#respondTue, 20 Mar 2018 19:53:45 +0000http://www.xiane.org/?p=1858Spring brought an ice and snow storm to Baltimore, where I live. Spring is an unpredictable beauty, especially in the Mid-Atlantic. We have been known to have some substantial snowstorms in March, even as the forsythia burst in golden yellow splendor, magnolia lilliiflora have substantial buds, and the gorgeous Kwanzan cherry tree in my …

Spring is an unpredictable beauty, especially in the Mid-Atlantic. We have been known to have some substantial snowstorms in March, even as the forsythia burst in golden yellow splendor, magnolia lilliiflora have substantial buds, and the gorgeous Kwanzan cherry tree in my front yard prepares to be a delight in just a short time from now. Right now? All those beautiful harbingers of Spring are covered with ice. It is lovely but treacherous out there.

I spied two small, bright crocuses in the front yard this morning. I planted some crocus and grape hyacinth ages ago and they keep their own schedule – some years nothing will bloom, and I’ll think that they’ve finally died off, and then when I’m least expecting it, I get a special gift of some purple flowers to lift my spirits. It’s usually when I most need it, like so many things that Nature brings.

Spring is my second favorite season [Autumn is #1, in case you were wondering] and I love the promise it brings, after a long season of weather-enforced nesting and inner work. This is where the hard work starts to sprout and bud into something exciting! I spent my Winter doing a lot of needed self-care and some tending to my business, which also was very needed.

I am starting to see the stirrings of growth because of my work, the seeds are sprouting and the potential is invigorating. What will you plant this Spring? It’s not too late to sow the seeds for what you want to nurture in your life. I started my “crop” early but I knew that I had some big, multi-step harvests in mind. Now is the perfect time to embrace all this growing energy.

I’d love to share with you my Ostara tarot reading that I did for myself as part of my Equinox rituals [want the whole ritual? Join my patreon and you’ll get all the details!]

For this reading, I shuffled the cards while thinking about what I’ve been concentrating on over the Winter and what I hope to gain from that work. Here’s the spread:

1st card, on left: What will I grow?

2nd card, in middle: What do I need?

3rd card, on right: What will I gain?

My growth card is Two of Cups, a card representing connection, love, meaningful interactions. This is such an appropriate card for me! My whole modus operandi is centered on growing community, especially a community of support and care. I have been working VERY hard to foster new connections and build something new – namely, a group of deep-diving and thoughtful, creative people who want to partner with me to improve ourselves and the world. I love this.

My need card is Father of Wands. When I draw “royal” cards [this card = King of Wands], unless I get the spark that says that this card specifically is channeling a person, I use this card as an avatar of the elements represented here. So in this case, I need to access my charisma, my creative energy, my mastery of my power. I am in charge here, in my life, and I need to act like it. Good advice.

My gain card is Ace of Pentacles, which is a card of prosperous, auspicious beginnings. You see the heart of the tree, the center from which all grows, and it is a secret star, a point of energy and the heart of the matter. I know that from my heart all good things grow, so this is a good reminder. Perhaps I will gain more heart, more growth, more prosperity, more solidity. I like that.

Taking all these cards together, I feel like this is a solid affirmation that I am going the right direction, and that gives me even more confidence and energy!

I invite you to try this spread yourself and see what insight you gain. If you use it, I’d love to hear the outcome! And if you’d like a personalized tarot spread, a special reading, and more musings and other offerings, I invite you to come join my Patreon, where you can get all of this and more! Thank you for reading and Happy Spring [Happy Autumn to my Southern Hemisphere friends, too!]

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